Authors : Barman D. C .
Page Nos : 86-88
Description :
Diet can significantly influence athletic performance, an athlete’s body is under significant
stress, and to manage these stresses the body must produce more energy. For this reason, athletes must
constantly consume food, but what they eat and drink is as
important as the amount of calories being
consumed. It’s important to understand the differences in required nutrition for health, fitness, and
athletic performance. Eating forhealth suggests a conservative approach to nutrition and focuses on
keeping all
body systems functioning properly. Athletes adopt various nutritional strategies in training
and competition in the pursuit of success. Athletes have been encouraged to eat diets high in
carbohydrate, but low
-
carbohydrate diets up
-
regulate the capacity of
muscle for fat oxidation, potentially
sparing the limited carbohydrate stores. Such diets, however, do not enhance endurance performance.
Preventing excessive fluid deficits will maintain exercise capacity, and ensuring adequate hydration
status can also r
educe subjective perception of effort. This latter effect may be important in encouraging
exercise participation and promoting adherence to exercise programmes. Dietary supplement use is
popular in sport, and a few supplements may improve performance in sp
ecific exercise tasks. There is an
increasing recognition of the role of the brain in determining exercise performance: various nutritional
strategies have been proposed, but with limited success. Nutrition strategies developed for use by athletes
can also
be used to achieve functional benefits in other populations.
